Automotive design pioneer Daniela Bohlinger, the distinguished professor at the Umeå Institute of Design, an international Swedish university hailed as a top industrial design institution, heads the sustainability design of Bayerische Motoren Weke (BMW), a German manufacturer noted for quality sports sedans and motorcycles.

A recent visitor to Manila as one of the speakers at the 7th International Design Conference held at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez, CCP Complex, she met up with young innovators and dedicated educators to adopt sustainable practices in a brief campus tour.

The comprehensive tour of the Design + Arts Campus of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) and its key laboratories and facilities was through the initiative of the Design Center of the Philippines.

She was given an overview of the curriculum and advocacies of the Benilde Industrial Design Program.

During her stay, the esteemed guest conducted sketch exercises with the young students, together with their mentors in attendance, under the courses of Mobility Design, Digital Rendering, Freehand Drawing, Toy Design, and Space and Environment.

She likewise imparted words of encouragement and inspiration before the students and faculty members of the School of Environment and Design, wherein she highlighted the importance of green-collar efforts in building projects.

Prior to joining the BMW Group, she worked as a product designer and advocated the implementation of circular economy principles in automotive design to create forward-looking solutions and drive the positive transformation of the industry.

Bohlinger was one of the masterminds behind BMW’s unique concept Project i, a program that develops lightweight eco-friendly urban electric cars such as the battery-electric and zero-emission vehicle BMW i3.

Her expertise in strategic development led to the vision of viability in future innovative thinking.

She continues to be a frequent lecturer at various universities, panel discussions and think tanks.